Japan's core inflation rises to 2.1% in September, its highest this year
Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.1% in September from a year earlier, up from 1.7% in August, while a measure that also excludes energy rose 2.4%, government data showed.
Japan’s core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, rose 2.1% in September from a year earlier, up from 1.7% in August, according to government data released on Friday 23 October and reported by CNBC. It was the highest rate this year and in line with the estimate of economists polled by Reuters.
Headline inflation was also 2.1%. A measure that excludes both fresh food and energy, which CNBC described as the Bank of Japan’s preferred gauge, rose 2.4%, above the central bank’s 2% target.
CNBC said the rise was driven by prices of durable goods and public utility charges, according to the data. Services inflation rose to 1.5% from 1.2%, while rice prices fell 20.6% from a year earlier and consumer energy prices fell 0.6%.
The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.25% in September. Abhijit Surya, senior Asia-Pacific economist at Capital Economics, said the case for further tightening “remains on solid ground” and forecast another increase in December, CNBC reported.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told parliament on Wednesday that Japan was “on the cusp of shifting to a period of sustained inflation driven by rising wages”, Reuters reported, according to CNBC.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index fell 1.62% on Friday, CNBC said.
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